I read it in the paper

He was marching the street

You just can’t vote in the ballot box anymore

You gotta vote with your feet

So I rode my bicycle all along Rock Creek

Oh – I gotta hear that man speak

 

There was trouble on the podium

Fear carried the day

If you get the people together

God knows what they’ll say

So the politicians made a rule

They restricted the time for words

Oh – but time’s a two-edged sword

 

Not a word, but a dream

That will lead us

And the memory of a man

Justice will have its day

From Georgia to L.A.

Stand on the mountain and

Remember, if you can

 

I’ve always been a proud man

No matter what they say

But I never stood as tall as on that

Hot August day

So when I feel discouraged

I recall then what I heard

Oh – and relive those mighty words

 

They forgot about Mr. Lincoln

And his Gettysburg Address

And Jesus on the mountain

He did more with even less

You can put a man in prison

You can cut away his tongue

Oh – but the bell will still be rung

 

©1997 Pamela Cardullo Ortiz